SHIRKII DIBU HESHIISIINTA OO MAANTA MAGAALADA JABUUTI KA BILOWDEY Jabuuti:- Shirkii maalmahanba la sugayey ee dhax mari lahaa DFKM iyo Mucaaradka ayaa maanta waxa uu si rasmi ahaan ah uga furmay Magaalada Jabuuti ee xarunta Dalka Jabuuti iyadoo ay Xubnaha Caalamka iyo Dalka Jabuutiba ay ku guuleysteen iney mucaaradka iyo Dowlad isa soo hor fariisiiyaan. Shirkan ayaa la filayey inuu hirgalo kadib markii ay labada kooxood ee isku haya siyaasada Somalia ay qireen in wada hadal lagu dhameeyo mashaakilka Somalia. Waxaa madasha Shirka ka hadley Wakiilka Qaramada Midowbey u qaabilsan Somalia Mudane Ahmadou Ould-Abdalla kuna sheegey khudbadiisa iney lagama maarmaan tahay in xaalka Somalia lagu dhameeyo wada hadal iyo is afgarad. Wararku waxay intaa ku darayaan in wasiirka Dibu heshiisiinta DFKM[C/risaq Ashakar] uu isna goobtaas ka hadley isagoo isla markaana soo dhoweeyey dibu heshiisiinta kuna darey in Xukuumadiisu aysan shuruud ku xirey kulankan iyo iney la hadlaan kooxaha kasoo horjeeda. Waxaa madasha shirka isna ku sugan wefdi uu Hogaaminayo Cabdiraxan Shakuur oo isna goobtaas ka sheegey hadalo kooban. Sidaanu hore usoo sheegney shirkan ayaa waxaa qeyb weyn ka qaadanaya QM, Jaamacada Carabta iyo Dalka Jabuuti hase yeeshee Mucaaradka uma dhamma shirkan iyadoo ay ka maqan yihiin kooxda ugu cad cad ee Alshabaab iyadoo kooxdaasi hore u sheegtey ineysan ka mid ahayn Dalada Mucaaradka ee la magac baxdey Isbahaysiga dib u xoraynta. LaasqorayNET/Jabuuti

The much-talked Peace talks is on session ------------ Shirkii DF ah iyo mucaaradka oo rasmi u furmay 12 May 12, 2008 - 6:04:24 PM Furitaanka shirkaan ayaa waxaa khudbooyin kala duwan ka jeediyay wakiilka gaarka oo QM u qaabilsan Somalia, midowga Yurub, midowga Afrika iyo Jaamacada carabta intaas kadib waxaa hadalo ka akhriyey madaxdii labada wafti [DF & mucaardka]. Wakiilka Qaramada Midoobay ee Somalia Ahmedou Ould Abdalla ayaa sheegay in uu ku faraxsan yahay in labada dhinac ay isa soo horfariisteen, iyadoo ay tiro kooban ka socdaan dhinac walba. Shirkaan ayaa waxaa sidoo kale gunaanadkiisa furitaanki shirkaan ka akhriyey wasiirka aw-qaafta dalka Jabuuti taas oo isugu jirtey Carabi iyo Somali. Khudbadka Somaliga ah ee wasiirku akhriyey ayaa hayd mid uu aad uga hadlayey arrimaha Somalida iyo sida loogu baahi qabo dib-u-heshiisiin. Afhayeenka mucaaradka Asmara oo saxafada waraysi siiyey ayaa sheegey in kulanka maanta uu furmay u yahay sidii ciidamada Ethiopia uga bixi lahaayeen Somalia. Ninkaan u hadlay mucaaradka ayaa sheegey in go'aanka bixitaanka ciidmada Ethiopia aysan ka go'in DF ah balse ay khusyso beesha calamka oo tageero siisa joogitankoda. Dhinaca kale waxaa Idaacada BBC wareysi siiyey wasiirka dib-u-heshiisiinta oo madax u ah waftiga dowlada Federaalka ayaa sheegey in uu aad ugu faraxsan yahay furitanka kulankaan. Wasiirka dib-u-heshisiinta oo la waydiiyey go'aanka mucaradka ayaa sheegey aysan munaasab aheyn dib-na loo dhigi karin wax ka qabashada dhibaatada Somalia isaga oo aad ugu niyadsamaa in ururka Asmara iyo dowladiisa xal ka gaari karaan dhibka jira. Madaxa waftiga DFKMG ah ayaa xusey in rajo wayn ka qabaan in xal laga gaaro dhibaatada Somalia islamarkaana mucaardka ka tanaasulaan qodobada ay ku xirayaan dib-u-heshiisiinta Somalia. Shirkaan ayaa la filayaa in maalmaha soo socda QM si gooni gooni ah ula kulanto dhinacyada is-haya iyada oo la filayo in xal laga gaaro qodobada leysku hayo inta uu shir rasmi ah furmin. Garowe Online,Jabuuti

The meeting started as of now. Shirkii DF ah iyo mucaaradka oo rasmi u furmay 12 May 12, 2008 - 6:04:24 PM Furitaanka shirkaan ayaa waxaa khudbooyin kala duwan ka jeediyay wakiilka gaarka oo QM u qaabilsan Somalia, midowga Yurub, midowga Afrika iyo Jaamacada carabta intaas kadib waxaa hadalo ka akhriyey madaxdii labada wafti [DF & mucaardka]. Wakiilka Qaramada Midoobay ee Somalia Ahmedou Ould Abdalla ayaa sheegay in uu ku faraxsan yahay in labada dhinac ay isa soo horfariisteen, iyadoo ay tiro kooban ka socdaan dhinac walba. Shirkaan ayaa waxaa sidoo kale gunaanadkiisa furitaanki shirkaan ka akhriyey wasiirka aw-qaafta dalka Jabuuti taas oo isugu jirtey Carabi iyo Somali. Khudbadka Somaliga ah ee wasiirku akhriyey ayaa hayd mid uu aad uga hadlayey arrimaha Somalida iyo sida loogu baahi qabo dib-u-heshiisiin. Afhayeenka mucaaradka Asmara oo saxafada waraysi siiyey ayaa sheegey in kulanka maanta uu furmay u yahay sidii ciidamada Ethiopia uga bixi lahaayeen Somalia. Ninkaan u hadlay mucaaradka ayaa sheegey in go'aanka bixitaanka ciidmada Ethiopia aysan ka go'in DF ah balse ay khusyso beesha calamka oo tageero siisa joogitankoda. Dhinaca kale waxaa Idaacada BBC wareysi siiyey wasiirka dib-u-heshiisiinta oo madax u ah waftiga dowlada Federaalka ayaa sheegey in uu aad ugu faraxsan yahay furitanka kulankaan. Wasiirka dib-u-heshisiinta oo la waydiiyey go'aanka mucaradka ayaa sheegey aysan munaasab aheyn dib-na loo dhigi karin wax ka qabashada dhibaatada Somalia isaga oo aad ugu niyadsamaa in ururka Asmara iyo dowladiisa xal ka gaari karaan dhibka jira. Madaxa waftiga DFKMG ah ayaa xusey in rajo wayn ka qabaan in xal laga gaaro dhibaatada Somalia islamarkaana mucaardka ka tanaasulaan qodobada ay ku xirayaan dib-u-heshiisiinta Somalia. Shirkaan ayaa la filayaa in maalmaha soo socda QM si gooni gooni ah ula kulanto dhinacyada is-haya iyada oo la filayo in xal laga gaaro qodobada leysku hayo inta uu shir rasmi ah furmin. Garowe Online,Jabuuti

adeer waxaan u malaynayaa inaysan Jirin dowlad macno badal lihi waayo waxayba u taag la,dahay goobihii ay joogtayu marka inta laga gaarayo Dowlad dalka soomaaliya u dhalata waxaa haboon in maamulo dadku inay samaystaan si Loo Helo deris wanaag iyo nabad . He took the call of Maakhirian Shift

Col. Indhayare, a former police chief of Puntland expressed a great dismay of the current Puntland Crisis and the dwindling public trust. He calls for an immediate intervention of the international community and urges them to pay a close attention to the growing piracy, instability, inflation and the lucrative human smuggling business. The erosion of public confidence, exacerbated by the recent illegal and merciless extradition of political dissidents who escaped from persecution, have also made it worse. Nowadays, a ragtag militia under the rubric of the "Defense army of Puntland " has repeatedly and indiscriminately been firing civilians in Bosaso. G/ Sare Indha yare oo ku sugan Xafiiskiisa Siyaasi ruug cadaa ah oo Reer Sanaag ah ayaa dhaleeceeyay Puntland Bosaaso:-Taliyihii hore ee Ciidanka Asluubta Puntland G/Sare Maxamed Jaamac Maxamuud( Indhayare) ayaa ka hadlay sababihii keenay inuu ka tago xilkii uu ka hayay Maamulka Puntlad, G/Sare Indhayare oo u waramayay Warbaahinta Sanaag ayaa sheegay in Maamulka Puntland markii dhidibada loo taagay Sanadkii 1998- uu ka mid ahaa ragii Udubada u taagay Maamulkaasi. Masuulkaasi waxa uu aad u dhaliilay Cade Muuse oo uu sheegay inuu cagta ku walaaqayo Maamulka Puntland. "Puntland markii la dhisay waxa lagu qabsaday hab Beeleed, iyada oo markaasi qorshu ahaa in la wadaago Maamulka markaasi la unkay balse wax dhacday in Maamulkii mardanbe isu rogay mid ku kooban hal Beelee, taasina ay ugu wacan tahay Masuuliyiinta Sa Sare ee Puntland oo ugu horeeyo Cade Muuse Xirsi" Saasi waxa yiri G/ Sare Indhayare. Indha yare ayaa waxa kaloo uu sheegay inuu dhawaan wada tashiyo la yeeshay Duqayda Gobolka Sanaag kuwaasi oo ay isla soo qaadeen sidii looga tashan lahaa Ayaamaha Gobolka, waxa uu farta ku fiiqay inaan wax ciidamada ah iyo Maamultoona aanay ka joogin Gobolka Sanaag isla markaana aan loo ogolaan doonin inay farigaliyo Puntland Gobolka Sanaag, Xaalad kasta oo Gobolka ka jirta ay ka falan qoondoonaan Isimada Gobolka oo kaashaanaya Siyaasiyiinta. Maxamed Jaamac Maxmuud (Indhayare) ayaa waxa uu aad ugu hadlay Xaalad Amaan ee Puntland oo uu sheegay inuu aad uga soo daray tan iyo intii Cade Muuse hogaanka Puntland la wareegay, Indhayare ayaa sheegay inuu qaaday talaabooyin wax ku ool ah intii xilka ka hayay Puntland oo ku aadan Amaanka. Waxa uu intaasi ku daray inaanay Puntland haatan ahayn meel loo dhan yahay oo ay ka jirto Cadaalad iyo kala danbayn, ayna Beesha Caalamka ugu baaqayaan inay soo fara galiyaan Xaaladaha haatan ka taagan Puntland, waxa uu ku eedeeyay Dhibaatooyinkaasi ka taagan Puntland inay log wayn ku leeyihiin Masuuliyiinta ugu saray Puntland. Hadalka Masuulkan rug cadaaga ah ayaa waxa uu ku soo adayaa xili ay dhawaan tacshiirad huwiyiin Ciidama ka amar qaata Wasiirka Amniga ee Puntland C/laahi Siciid Samatar dad rayid ah oo aan waxba galbasan, iyada oo ay wali sii socdaan Gumaadka ay ku hayaan dadka rayidka ah, iyada oo ay taasi marag tahay hadalka Siyaasiyaasi ka soo jeeda Gobolka Sanaag. Radio Dhahar Bosaaso, Somalia

Watch, this peace process will drag on until the end of TFG's mandate similar to how the TNG collapsed.

A very interesting article. I just wonna share it with you. How Rising Oil Prices Are Obliterating America's Superpower Status By Michael T. Klare TomDispatch.com Monday 12 May 2008 Nineteen years ago, the fall of the Berlin Wall effectively eliminated the Soviet Union as the world's other superpower. Yes, the USSR as a political entity stumbled on for another two years, but it was clearly an ex-superpower from the moment it lost control over its satellites in Eastern Europe. Less than a month ago, the United States similarly lost its claim to superpower status when a barrel crude oil roared past $110 on the international market, gasoline prices crossed the $3.50 threshold at American pumps, and diesel fuel topped $4.00. As was true of the USSR following the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, the USA will no doubt continue to stumble on like the superpower it once was; but as the nation's economy continues to be eviscerated to pay for its daily oil fix, it, too, will be seen by increasing numbers of savvy observers as an ex-superpower-in-the-making. That the fall of the Berlin Wall spelled the erasure of the Soviet Union's superpower status was obvious to international observers at the time. After all, the USSR visibly ceased to exercise dominion over an empire (and an associated military-industrial complex) encompassing nearly half of Europe and much of Central Asia. The relationship between rising oil prices and the obliteration of America's superpower status is, however, hardly as self-evident. So let's consider the connection. Dry Hole Superpower The fact is, America's wealth and power has long rested on the abundance of cheap petroleum. The United States was, for a long time, the world's leading producer of oil, supplying its own needs while generating a healthy surplus for export. Oil was the basis for the rise of first giant multinational corporations in the U.S., notably John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company (now reconstituted as Exxon Mobil, the world's wealthiest publicly-traded corporation). Abundant, exceedingly affordable petroleum was also responsible for the emergence of the American automotive and trucking industries, the flourishing of the domestic airline industry, the development of the petrochemical and plastics industries, the suburbanization of America, and the mechanization of its agriculture. Without cheap and abundant oil, the United States would never have experienced the historic economic expansion of the post-World War II era. No less important was the role of abundant petroleum in fueling the global reach of U.S. military power. For all the talk of America's growing reliance on computers, advanced sensors, and stealth technology to prevail in warfare, it has been oil above all that gave the U.S. military its capacity to "project power" onto distant battlefields like Iraq and Afghanistan. Every Humvee, tank, helicopter, and jet fighter requires its daily ration of petroleum, without which America's technology-driven military would be forced to abandon the battlefield. No surprise, then, that the U.S. Department of Defense is the world's single biggest consumer of petroleum, using more of it every day than the entire nation of Sweden. From the end of World War II through the height of the Cold War, the U.S. claim to superpower status rested on a vast sea of oil. As long as most of our oil came from domestic sources and the price remained reasonably low, the American economy thrived and the annual cost of deploying vast armies abroad was relatively manageable. But that sea has been shrinking since the 1950s. Domestic oil production reached a peak in 1970 and has been in decline ever since - with a growing dependency on imported oil as the result. When it came to reliance on imports, the United States crossed the 50% threshold in 1998 and now has passed 65%. Though few fully realized it, this represented a significant erosion of sovereign independence even before the price of a barrel of crude soared above $110. By now, we are transferring such staggering sums yearly to foreign oil producers, who are using it to gobble up valuable American assets, that, whether we know it or not, we have essentially abandoned our claim to superpowerdom. According to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Energy, the United States is importing 12-14 million barrels of oil per day. At a current price of about $115 per barrel, that's $1.5 billion per day, or $548 billion per year. This represents the single largest contribution to America's balance-of-payments deficit, and is a leading cause for the dollar's ongoing drop in value. If oil prices rise any higher - in response, perhaps, to a new crisis in the Middle East (as might be occasioned by U.S. air strikes on Iran) - our annual import bill could quickly approach three-quarters of a trillion dollars or more per year. While our economy is being depleted of these funds, at a moment when credit is scarce and economic growth has screeched to a halt, the oil regimes on which we depend for our daily fix are depositing their mountains of accumulating petrodollars in "sovereign wealth funds" (SWFs) - state-controlled investment accounts that buy up prized foreign assets in order to secure non-oil-dependent sources of wealth. At present, these funds are already believed to hold in excess of several trillion dollars; the richest, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), alone holds $875 billion. The ADIA first made headlines in November 2007 when it acquired a $7.5 billion stake in Citigroup, America's largest bank holding company. The fund has also made substantial investments in Advanced Micro Systems, a major chip maker, and the Carlyle Group, the private equity giant. Another big SWF, the Kuwait Investment Authority, also acquired a multibillion-dollar stake in Citigroup, along with a $6.6 billion chunk of Merrill Lynch. And these are but the first of a series of major SWF moves that will be aimed at acquiring stakes in top American banks and corporations. The managers of these funds naturally insist that they have no intention of using their ownership of prime American properties to influence U.S. policy. In time, however, a transfer of economic power of this magnitude cannot help but translate into a transfer of political power as well. Indeed, this prospect has already stirred deep misgivings in Congress. "In the short run, that they [the Middle Eastern SWFs] are investing here is good," Senator Evan Bayh (D-Indiana) recently observed. "But in the long run it is unsustainable. Our power and authority is eroding because of the amounts we are sending abroad for energy." No Summer Tax Holiday for the Pentagon Foreign ownership of key nodes of our economy is only one sign of fading American superpower status. Oil's impact on the military is another. Every day, the average G.I. in Iraq uses approximately 27 gallons of petroleum-based fuels. With some 160,000 American troops in Iraq, that amounts to 4.37 million gallons in daily oil usage, including gasoline for vans and light vehicles, diesel for trucks and armored vehicles, and aviation fuel for helicopters, drones, and fixed-wing aircraft. With U.S. forces paying, as of late April, an average of $3.23 per gallon for these fuels, the Pentagon is already spending approximately $14 million per day on oil ($98 million per week, $5.1 billion per year) to stay in Iraq. Meanwhile, our Iraqi allies, who are expected to receive a windfall of $70 billion this year from the rising price of their oil exports, charge their citizens $1.36 per gallon for gasoline. When questioned about why Iraqis are paying almost a third less for oil than American forces in their country, senior Iraqi government officials scoff at any suggestion of impropriety. "America has hardly even begun to repay its debt to Iraq," said Abdul Basit, the head of Iraq's Supreme Board of Audit, an independent body that oversees Iraqi governmental expenditures. "This is an immoral request because we didn't ask them to come to Iraq, and before they came in 2003 we didn't have all these needs." Needless to say, this is not exactly the way grateful clients are supposed to address superpower patrons. "It's totally unacceptable to me that we are spending tens of billions of dollars on rebuilding Iraq while they are putting tens of billions of dollars in banks around the world from oil revenues," said Senator Carl Levin (D-Michigan), chairman of the Armed Services Committee. "It doesn't compute as far as I'm concerned." Certainly, however, our allies in the region, especially the Sunni kingdoms of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that presumably look to Washington to stabilize Iraq and curb the growing power of Shiite Iran, are willing to help the Pentagon out by supplying U.S. troops with free or deeply-discounted petroleum. No such luck. Except for some partially subsidized oil supplied by Kuwait, all oil-producing U.S. allies in the region charge us the market rate for petroleum. Take that as a striking reflection of how little credence even countries whose ruling elites have traditionally looked to the U.S. for protection now attach to our supposed superpower status. Think of this as a strikingly clear-eyed assessment of American power. As far as they're concerned, we're now just another of those hopeless oil addicts driving a monster gas-guzzler up to the pump - and they're perfectly happy to collect our cash which they can then use to cherry-pick our prime assets. So expect no summer tax holidays for the Pentagon, not in the Middle East, anyway. Worse yet, the U.S. military will need even more oil for the future wars on which the Pentagon is now doing the planning. In this way, the U.S. experience in Iraq has especially worrisome implications. Under the military "transformation" initiated by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in 2001, the future U.S. war machine will rely less on "boots on the ground" and ever more on technology. But technology entails an ever-greater requirement for oil, as the newer weapons sought by Rumsfeld (and now Secretary of Defense Robert Gates) all consume many times more fuel than those they will replace. To put this in perspective: The average G.I in Iraq now uses about seven times as much oil per day as G.I.s did in the first the Gulf War less than two decades ago. And every sign indicates that the same ratio of increase will apply to coming conflicts; that the daily cost of fighting will skyrocket; and that the Pentagon's capacity to shoulder multiple foreign military burdens will unravel. Thus are superpowers undone. Russia's Gusher If anything demonstrates the critical role of oil in determining the fate of superpowers in the current milieu, it is the spectacular reemergence of Russia as a Great Power on the basis of its superior energy balance. Once derided as the humiliated, enfeebled loser in the U.S.-Soviet rivalry, Russia is again a force to be reckoned with in world affairs. It possesses the fastest-growing economy among the G-8 group of major industrial powers, is the world's second leading producer of oil (after Saudi Arabia), and its top producer of natural gas. Because it produces far more energy than it consumes, Russia exports a substantial portion of its oil and gas to neighboring countries, making it the only Great Power not dependent on other states for its energy needs. As Russia has become an energy-exporting state, it has moved from the list of has-beens to the front rank of major players. When President Bush first occupied the White House, in February 2001, one of his highest priorities was to downgrade U.S. ties with Russia and annul the various arms-control agreements that had been forged between the two countries by his predecessors, agreements that explicitly conferred equal status on the USA and the USSR. As an indication of how contemptuously the Bush team viewed Russia at that time, Condoleezza Rice, while still an adviser to the Bush presidential campaign, wrote, in the January/February 2000 issue of the influential Foreign Affairs, "U.S. policy must recognize that American security is threatened less by Russia's strength than by its weakness and incoherence." Under such circumstances, she continued, there was no need to preserve obsolete relics of the dual superpower past like the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty; rather, the focus of U.S. efforts should be on preventing the further erosion of Russian nuclear safeguards and the potential escape of nuclear materials. In line with this outlook, President Bush believed that he could convert an impoverished and compliant Russia into a major source of oil and natural gas for the United States - with American energy companies running the show. This was the evident aim of the U.S.-Russian "energy dialogue" announced by Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin in May 2002. But if Bush thought Russia was prepared to turn into a northern version of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, or Venezuela prior to the arrival of Hugo Chávez, he was to be sorely disappointed. Putin never permitted American firms to acquire substantial energy assets in Russia. Instead, he presided over a major recentralization of state control when it came to the country's most valuable oil and gas reserves, putting most of them in the hands of Gazprom, the state-controlled natural gas behemoth. Once in control of these assets, moreover, Putin has used his renascent energy power to exert influence over states that were once part of the former Soviet Union, as well as those in Western Europe that rely on Russian oil and gas for a substantial share of their energy needs. In the most extreme case, Moscow turned off the flow of natural gas to Ukraine on January 1, 2006, in the midst of an especially cold winter, in what was said to be a dispute over pricing but was widely viewed as punishment for Ukraine's political drift westwards. (The gas was turned back on four days later when Ukraine agreed to pay a higher price and offered other concessions.) Gazprom has threatened similar action in disputes with Armenia, Belarus, and Georgia - in each case forcing those former Soviet SSRs to back down. When it comes to the U.S.-Russian relationship, just how much the balance of power has shifted was evident at the NATO summit at Bucharest in early April. There, President Bush asked that Georgia and Ukraine both be approved for eventual membership in the alliance, only to find top U.S. allies (and Russian energy users) France and Germany blocking the measure out of concern for straining ties with Russia. "It was a remarkable rejection of American policy in an alliance normally dominated by Washington," Steven Erlanger and Steven Lee Myers of the New York Times reported, "and it sent a confusing signal to Russia, one that some countries considered close to appeasement of Moscow." For Russian officials, however, the restoration of their country's great power status is not the product of deceit or bullying, but a natural consequence of being the world's leading energy provider. No one is more aware of this than Dmitri Medvedev, the former Chairman of Gazprom and new Russian president. "The attitude toward Russia in the world is different now," he declared on December 11, 2007. "We are not being lectured like schoolchildren; we are respected and we are deferred to. Russia has reclaimed its proper place in the world community. Russia has become a different country, stronger and more prosperous." The same, of course, can be said about the United States - in reverse. As a result of our addiction to increasingly costly imported oil, we have become a different country, weaker and less prosperous. Whether we know it or not, the energy Berlin Wall has already fallen and the United States is an ex-superpower-in-the-making. --------- Michael Klare is a professor of peace and world security studies at Hampshire College and author of the just-released Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet: The New Geopolitics of Energy (Metropolitan Books). A documentary film based on his previous book, Blood and Oil, is available from the Media Education Foundation and can be ordered at bloodandoilmovie.com. A brief video of Klare discussing key subjects in his new book can be viewed by clicking here. Source: Tomdispatch

A friend of mine went to Hargeisa last fall and married there. Hargeisa is beautiful city.

Faarax, that is almost nude , Aga.

A good documentary but I would say it carries the fervor of ethnic natinoalism. A country like Somalia, even in its best days could not bear the cost or pool resources for this cause. I laughed at the fishing nomads chanting songs of camels. This was one of economic development of back then, introducing the nomads this precious untapped resource base: coastal fishery.

Extremely informative! What surprised me is how the cycle of environmental stress and degradation, its impact on resource scarcity, the control of strategic points necessary for the exploitation of banana plantations in Lower Shabele and cereal in Bay, shifting alliances, grievances of the clans deprived of this lucrative business, and other factors, perpetuate violence or sustain it in some form. The author also examines NGO's role in shaping Somali conflict since they put aside half of their budget for security and how large sums of aid money are divered to acquiring ammunition and weapons for their security.

Let me make the 100th post of this topic, which is indeed a political coup for the president.

Webersik, Christian1 "This article discusses the possible link between resource scarcity in Somalia and armed conflict. According to the author, there is little evidence that prolonged civil conflicts in Africa are caused by environmental scarcity. He argues that in Somalia, elite clans compete for power over agricultural production, port facilities, and urban real estate. He sees the ethnic rivalries as the result of the unjust distribution of benefits and the exclusion from political decision making. He concludes that some warlords have prospered from continued instability with benefits from foreign aid and arms trading making for an uncertain future for the country.' War over resources, evidence from Somalia SOURCE: Environment; May2008

MUSLIM true/false What you think you know about them is likely wrong -- and that's dangerous. By John L. Esposito & Dalia Mogahed April 2, 2008 Winning hearts and minds -- the Bush administration, foreign policy wonks, even the U.S. military agree that this is the key to any victory over global terrorism. Yet our public diplomacy program has made little progress on improving America's image. Few seem to recognize that American ignorance of Islam and Muslims has been the fatal flaw. How much do Americans know about the views and beliefs of Muslims around the world? According to polls, not much. Perhaps not surprising, the majority of Americans (66%) admit to having at least some prejudice against Muslims; one in five say they have "a great deal" of prejudice. Almost half do not believe American Muslims are "loyal" to this country, and one in four do not want a Muslim as a neighbor. Why should such anti-Muslim bias concern us? First, it undermines the war on terrorism: Situations are misdiagnosed, root causes are misidentified and bad prescriptions do more harm than good. Second, it makes our public diplomacy sound like double-talk. U.S. diplomats are trying to convince Muslims around the world that the United States respects them and that the war on terrorism is not out to destroy Islam. Their task is made infinitely more difficult by the frequent airing of anti-Muslim sentiment on right-wing call-in radio, which is then heard around the world on the Internet. Finally, public ignorance weakens our democracy at election time. Instead of a well-informed citizenry choosing our representatives, we are rendered vulnerable to manipulative fear tactics. We need look no further than the political attacks on Barack Obama. Any implied connection to Islam -- attending a Muslim school in Indonesia, the middle name Hussein -- is wielded to suggest that he is unfit for the presidency and used as fuel for baseless rumors. Anti-Muslim sentiment fuels misinformation, and is fueled by it -- misinformation that is squarely contradicted by evidence. Starting in 2001, the research firm Gallup embarked on the largest, most comprehensive survey of its kind, spending more than six years polling a population that represented more than 90% of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims. The results showed plainly that much of the conventional wisdom about Muslims -- views touted by U.S. policymakers and pundits and accepted by voters -- is simply false. For instance, Gallup found that 72% of Americans disagreed with this statement: "The majority of those living in Muslim countries thought men and women should have equal rights." In fact, majorities in even some of the most conservative Muslim societies directly refute this assessment: 73% of Saudis, 89% of Iranians and 94% of Indonesians say that men and women should have equal legal rights. Majorities of Muslim men and women in dozens of countries around the world also believe that a woman should have the right to work outside the home at any job for which she is qualified (88% in Indonesia, 72% in Egypt and even 78% in Saudi Arabia), and to vote without interference from family members (87% in Indonesia, 91% in Egypt, 98% in Lebanon). What about Muslim sympathy for terrorism? Many charge that Islam encourages violence more than other faiths, but studies show that Muslims around the world are at least as likely as Americans to condemn attacks on civilians. Polls show that 6% of the American public thinks attacks in which civilians are targets are "completely justified." In Saudi Arabia, this figure is 4%. In Lebanon and Iran, it's 2%. Moreover, it's politics, not piety, that drives the small minority -- just 7% -- of Muslims to anti-Americanism at the level of condoning the attacks of 9/11. Looking across majority-Muslim countries, Gallup found no statistical difference in self-reported religiosity between those who sympathized with the attackers and those who did not. When respondents in select countries were asked in an open-ended question to explain their views of 9/11, those who condemned it cited humanitarian as well as religious reasons. For example, 20% of Kuwaitis who called the attacks "completely unjustified" explained this position by saying that terrorism was against the teachings of Islam. A respondent in Indonesia went so far as to quote a direct verse from the Koran prohibiting killing innocents. On the other hand, not a single respondent who condoned the attacks used the Koran as justification. Instead, they relied on political rationalizations, calling the U.S. an imperialist power or accusing it of wanting to control the world. If most Muslims truly reject terrorism, why does it continue to flourish in Muslim lands? What these results indicate is that terrorism is much like other violent crime. Violent crimes occur throughout U.S. cities, but that is no indication of Americans' general acceptance of murder or assault. Likewise, continued terrorist violence is not proof that Muslims tolerate it. Indeed, they are its primary victims. Still, the typical American cannot be blamed for these misperceptions. Media-content analyses show that the majority of U.S. TV news coverage of Islam is sharply negative. Americans are bombarded every day with news stories about Muslims and majority-Muslim countries in which vocal extremists, not evidence, drive perceptions. Rather than allow extremists on either side to dictate how we discuss Islam and the West, we need to listen carefully to the voices of ordinary people. Our victory in the war on terrorism depends on it. John L. Esposito is an Islamic studies professor at Georgetown University. Dalia Mogahed is executive director of the Center for Muslim Studies at Gallup. They co-wrote "Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think." Source: LA Times

Originally posted by AfricaOwn: France is just letting them know that they drafted a resolution that will authorize them to fight piracy off Somalia and elsewhere. Good point!

How to Deal with Islamophobia Dr. Terry Lacey May 05 , 2008 Dr. Terry Lacey recently reported from the Organisation of the Islamic Conference meeting in Dakar, Senegal, which discussed how to manage the relationship between Muslim communities and the west. Last month, Islamic leaders debated Islamophobia at the 57 nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which was held in Senegal. On the agenda was the Jyllands Poster Cartoons, published in Denmark and the proposal of Dutch parliamentarian, Geert Wilders, to make an anti-Muslim film that depicting Islam as a fascist religion. The question arises, is the reaction of the Muslim world towards perceived provocation deserved, or should the Muslim world be making a greater effort to reach out to secular and western societies ? The Danish cartoon controversy strikes at the root of the problem, namely the dialogue between secular society and the orthodox Muslim community. The reaction to the Jyllands Posten affair has played into the hands of members of the Muslim Community who use religious identity as a political weapon against the west. But then again, the offense caused by the cartoons has been defended by groups that are seeking to create ethnic, racial and religious division, and drive a wedge of discontent between all muslims, moderate or otherwise, and western society. There is a valid argument made by secularists that being constrained for fear of blasphemy is an assault on their freedom of expression and a free press. However, this argument has been spun and expanded by some sections that people of faith, even moderates, are politically motivated and want to take away secular society’s civil freedoms, bring in religious censorship and ultimately, through never implied by these agitators, impose theocratic rule. DEFAMATION Moderates on the other side of the divide also make a reasonable argument that freedom of speech and freedom of expression is not absolute and should not be used as an excuse to defame religions or religious symbols. After all, in a number of secular and western countries, including Denmark, flag burning is an offence, and where is the freedom of expression in that ? The fallout from both extremist stances, as the Egyptian ambassador to Indonesia pointed out in the Jakarta Post, is an upsurge in racism, xenophobia and discrimination against members of religious communities, and this is happening not just to Muslims. However, the OIC should certainly be concerned at the rise in Islamophobia. The Muslim community needs to combat this phenomenon by embarking on a public relations exercise to dispel the image that all Muslims are militantly religious. Growing hostility in both camps reflects the political fall out 9/11 and the mishandling of the war on terrorism, particularly by President Bush, but it also reflects more fundamentally the growing social and cultural fall out of globalization and migrations. This has provoked a strengthening of right wing political parties in the EU and a hardening of the neo-conservative stance in the US. However, this phenomenon as been matched by rising solidarity between EU liberals and leftists, and Muslim countries and communities against US foreign policy. The OIC is not seen as a particularly effective organisation in terms of global outreach, especially towards non-Muslim countries, and it will be interesting to see how it follows up the meeting to the growth of Islamapohobia. DIPLOMACY A thoughtful and diplomatic approach would be to build a coalition with other faiths, especially Christianity and Judaism, its monotheistic cousins. Islam should try to identify common values and sensitivities about religious symbol and make it clear that similar attacks on Christian or Jewish symbols will also to be regarded as offensive. There should be one rule for all, where Muslim rise to defend attacks, such as the Indonesian magazine, Tempo’s recent satirical cartoon showing ex-president Suharto as Jesus Christ at the Last Supper. The OIC then should reach out to the secular society and support press freedom and freedom of expression, but ask for some understanding, tact and reasonable limits to its exercise. However, to build this coalition, the OIC would need to be prepared to open dialogue with secular groups and show a high degree of diplomatic skill. Sadly, I predicted this would not happen and we would be served the usual fare of rhetoric and set-piece speeches. TOLERANCE The fundamental weakness of the Muslim call for tolerance and understanding emanates from two sources. First, post 9/11, in secular, western minds there has risen an association between Islam, Muslim culture and terrorism. Those trying to derive a wedge between the Muslims and the west have vastly exaggerated and simplified the link. The media has lumped under the definitions of terrorism everything from Al-Qaeda, to political and tribal militias, to sectarian factions and local separatist and resistance movements. True, some of these conflicts occur in Muslim nations, but many of the “terrorists” have spent more time fighting each other than the west. It is lazy media and the fact that less than 10 percent of Muslim felt any sympathy or empathy with Islamist movements, militancy or terrorism that is grossly under reported. The fact of the matter is that Muslim countries and societies can be as progressive and democratic as secular and western societies as illustrated by recent elections in Pakistan and Malaysia, along with earlier elections in Turkey and Indonesia confirming strong trends towards modernization, and Muslim countries increasingly led by non-sectarian, secular and multi cultural parties. However, secular media and western politicians have been burying this in favour of car-bombings and decapitations. The OIC must try to redress this balance. EDUCATION Second, there is a more fundamental weakness which the OIC and Muslim community must address. There is an explicit lack of social and educational progress and modernization in many Muslim countries, which leads Islam and Muslim culture to be overtly linked to backwardness and underdevelopment. This undermines the attempts of the Muslim community to be taken seriously as a force for modernization and moderation at global level. Evidence of this argument was clear to see in Indonesia last month, as the southeast Asian nation hosted the seventh “E-9 Ministerial Review Meeting of Education For All” conference. This meeting emphasized that 70 percent of all of the world illiteracy can be found in just nine countries; Bangladesh, Egypt, Pakistan, Indonesia, Nigeria, India, China, Brazil and Mexico. The facts are plain to see. Four of the nine are large Muslim countries and two of others have large Muslim populations. The Muslim world remains disproportionately poor and illiterate, despite the skyscrapers in parts of the GCC. MODERNISING It is not ritual conflict and Fatwas over cartoons that will improve the world climate for Muslims. It will be its assertion of countervailing power based on growing economic and political strength, and increasing acceptance that being a Muslim can mean being a moderate and modernizer at the same time. If the OIC wants supports from its own grass roots to help attract more international respect for Islam and its symbols, and for Muslim cultures and communities, then it has to connect better with the economic and social aspirations of the Muslim street. One way is to make better use of Islamic finance to develop the Muslim community’s social infrastructure and reduce the gaps between the haves and have nots. This will help provide the mainstream global Muslim community with the leadership that has been sadly lacking and help fill the gas which are otherwise filled by radical groups. *Dr. Terry Lacey is a development economist based in Jakata, Indonesia. *This article was first published in the March Edition of International Business and Finance.

Originally posted by Sakhar: SOL's Exclusive by Sakhar Pictures from the Presidents reception of Col. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad at the Palais de l'Elysee. No other Somali websites have got the pictures posted yet, this is exclusive brought to you by Monsieur Sakhar . I kept my promise as I told you I would and here are the updates and pictures of Presidents Sarkozy's meeting with the Col. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad, the President of the Transitional Federal Republic of Somalia. What a exclusive update. Be grateful for Sakhar. Thanks Monsieur Sakhar.

Interesting proposals for a lasting political solution to Somalia's conflict. emphasis mine! Oh my gosh, pirates! Somalia By Daniela Kroslak and Andrew Stroehlein International Herald Tribune April 29, 2008 Strange how an African country can be moving from prolonged chaos to violent collapse and no one in the world notices until a couple of European boats get seized by armed gunmen. War-ravaged Somalia is in the worst shape it has been in for years - which, for this devastated country that has not had a proper government for nearly a generation, is really saying something. Yet, neither of the two resolutions currently in preparation at the UN Security Council mention the 85 dead in Mogadishu last weekend, or the exodus of newly displaced persons from that city, or Ethiopian shelling of civilian areas or the dwindling international humanitarian response. Instead, one of the resolutions proposed by France, the United States and Britain is a reaction to the hijacking of a French yacht and a Spanish fishing vessel, and would authorize countries to fight piracy off Somali coast. It is like watching flames engulf your neighbor`s house and calling in the fire brigade to help you wash your car. The death and displacement in Somalia is caused by the violent confrontation between the evaporating transitional government troops and its Ethiopian allies on the one hand, and insurgents on the other. Officials in African and western capitals shrug their shoulders when confronted with the dire situation in Somalia. A lack of political will, investment and imagination has made Somalia a hopeless case in their eyes. Realizing no one in power cares in the slightest, most international media have also been ignoring Somalia, barely mentioning the recent heavy fighting in Mogadishu for example. Ethiopian troops have been accused of having targeted mosques and killing religious leaders and civilians in the north of the capital. Whole areas of Mogadishu were sealed off, leaving outsiders only to guess the gravity of the plight in those sectors. Did anyone hear about any of this? But pirates taking a French luxury yacht? That story was hard to miss. According to the United Nations, 2.5 million people are in urgent need of assistance in Somalia. 750,000 alone were displaced from Mogadishu over the last 15 months. Critical water shortages and a severe drought have befallen central and northern Somalia further aggravating the hardship for the civilian population. The verdict seems to be clear: combined Ethiopian, African Union troops and transitional government forces have failed to establish security in the capital Mogadishu, or any other part of the country. Islamist al-Shabaab militants in southern and central Somalia are combining their military operations with political outreach. Ultimately, the rise and consolidation of an Islamist movement pursuing a regional and international agenda will create a growing threat to the rest of the Horn of Africa. A narrow window of opportunity has emerged in the form of Somali Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein`s recent offer to negotiate with both the internal and external opposition, including al-Shabaab, many members of which belong to the clan controlling Mogadishu, the ******. This bold political initiative led by a widely respected figure, if seized upon, could potentially usher in an inclusive Somali national political dialogue. But it now faces a steep hurdle, if not a fatal blow, from the U.S. designation of al-Shabaab as a terrorist organization. Whether well founded or otherwise, the U.S. move - preceded by the latest American air strikes on Dobley in southern Somalia - could undercut the prime minister`s initiative, widen the rift between the president and the prime minister and undermine local and international efforts to facilitate a political resolution to the Somali crisis. The lack of strategic engagement by the international community is a significant obstacle to progress. The efforts of the UN special representative, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, to build greater cohesion among members of the international community should be encouraged, and he should be supported to build a strategy for a meaningful peace process. This new political process should work to achieve an end to the current insurgency. The first point on the agenda for negotiation should be a cease-fire. Involved parties need to be given security guarantees in order to agree to it and truly engage in political dialogue. For the opposition this might involve a clear plan and timeline for phased Ethiopian withdrawal supported and monitored by the international community. The Ethiopians would be given guarantees about greater Somalia claims and other security concerns. The negotiations should include an agreement on the borders of the federal state, its internal divisions and the devolution of powers between states and central government. Also, a national reconciliation process should put an end to the cycle of revenge that has ruined the country for over two decades. The incentive for the parties to discuss this issue would be accountability mechanisms that would apply to perpetrators of crimes committed by all sides of the conflict. Finally, there must be an agreement on an electoral process leading to a democratic election of political leaders. All this may seem quite a reach for a collapsed state like Somalia. But if world leaders and the international media gave this the kind of priority they have given the pirates, then progress would be far easier. * Daniela Kroslak is the deputy director of the Africa Program, and Andrew Stroehlein is media and information director, of the International Crisis Group. © 2008 The New York Times Company. All Rights Reserved.

Extremely depressed head of states.

I used to hear from the secessionists often times, "Somaliland and Somalia" as though they were mutually exclusive states. You have Rick Schmitt, President of Africa Oil mimicking the secessionists in this Press release. In a related matter, Africa Oil is pleased to announce that the President of the Transitional Federal Government, H.E. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, has been fully briefed on the company's activities. His Excellency has subsequently issued a broad endorsement of those activities and acknowledged the legitimacy of its concession agreements, promising full support for our work program. Having met all other obligations, the Company had initiated an accelerated drilling schedule at the Nogal Valley block well in advance of the January, 2010 expiry of the first exploration period. The aggressive timing of the program was to the benefit of the local communities in Puntland and Somalia. However, under current conditions, it is prudent to relax this operational schedule. The Company has a strong relationship with the Puntland government and will cooperate fully with them as they work to resolve the situation. The company will continue to monitor events and reinstate the drilling program as soon as practicable. Source, April 28, 2008

It is not easy to import the whole paper into this site. I am afraid to lose its format and emphasis. Written by a friend of mine! The Infamy and Trickery of Al-Wahhābīyya Faisal Omar Sangal March 26, 2008 San Diego, Ca LINK

Juje, after TFG's mandate ends, do you think we would have an Eldoret like Conference or there will no such thing again?

Somaliland will get its independence from Somalia after Britain in 1960, because Somaliland democracy gives the final decision to the people of Somaliland. Who wrote this article. It seems the writer displays his ignorance of English grammar more often than his irrational premises.

Originally posted by Juje: And it all happened after they released the hostages and the ship. So the news went through filtering that the French safely captured the pirates and killed some of them with no collateral harm to the hostages. I agree with Libax that the pirates were poor and unsophisticated ones.

HUMANITARIAN SITUATION DETERIORATING IN SOMALIA Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (New York, 11 April 2008): According to the Food Security Analysis Unit (FSAU) and Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), the humanitarian situation in Somalia is deteriorating faster than expected. FSAU and FEWSNET have revised upwards the number of people in a state of humanitarian emergency from 315,000 to 425,000 and the number of newly displaced people from 705,000 to 745,000. The most severely affected areas are Galgaduud, Mudug, Hiraan, coastal Shabelle and pockets in Sool, Nugal and Hawd areas in the north. FSAU is currently assessing the status of the urban population, an exercise that is likely to increase the current estimated figure of 1.8 million to 2 million people in need of humanitarian assistance or livelihood support. Three key factors have contributed to this rapid deterioration: an abnormally extremely harsh dry season from January to March with higher temperatures and unusually dry winds, increasing civil insecurity, and continuing and increasing high rates of inflation. In south central Somalia, prices of locally produced maize and sorghum have increased by 300%-400% over the last 12 months, and prices of imported foods like rice and vegetable oil increased by an average of 150%, while the Somali shilling depreciated by an average of 65%. With food and water shortages seriously stressing both pastoralist and poor urban populations, there have been reports of population movements both to and from rural and urban areas. There has also been an outbreak of Acute Watery Diarrhoea (AWD) in Dhahar district, Sanaag region, with seven deaths recorded out of 300 cases since 10 March. The outbreak has been associated with the use of a contaminated underground water catchment after the only borehole in Dhahar town collapsed. According to field reports, AWD is now spreading to rural and pastoral settlements in the district and the health staff in the area are not able to deal with increasing cases due to limited staff capacity. During the past week, escalating clashes between Ethiopian/Transitional Federal Government (TFG) forces and anti-government elements were reported in many parts of south central Somalia. The deteriorating security situation all over the country is slowing humanitarian deliveries and affecting the humanitarian agencies ability to support population in need. The situation in Somalia is part of the continuation of unusually dry conditions in the Horn of Africa in general, including Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and parts of Kenya, which are further aggravating food insecurity, water and pasture shortages, and outbreaks of drought associated diseases such as Acute Watery Diarrhea, meningitis, and malnutrition, and which are increasing the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance from April through to at least end of 2008. The Government of Djibouti has declared a state of emergency due to high rates of malnutrition, which, nationally, exceed the critical threshold of 15%. According to food security analysts and weather forecasters, it is only between July and August 2008 that the full-blown impact of a drought will be felt in certain areas of the Greater Horn of Africa. For further information, please call: Stephanie Bunker, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 917 892 1679; John Nyaga, OCHA-NY, + 1 917 367 9262; Elisabeth Byrs, OCHA-Geneva, +41 22 917 2653, mobile, +41 79 473 4570. OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org or http://www.reliefweb.int/. SOURCE: OCHA NEWS.